How to pull bathroom light switch housing in '88 Excella?

[345 MoHo]

Hi y'all,

I've got myself into a pickle and I want to see if anyone here can help...

I have a 1988 Excella '32. The 3-way "High/Off/Low" switch in the bathroom was acting up on me so I pulled it out in hopes of finding a new one.

Turns out they are really hard to find, so I fixed the old switch and went to put it back, but I can't seem to figure out how to get it plugged back in. The wires aren't long enough now to pull out and plug in, so I went to try and remove the housing around the switch, but that sucker won't budge!

It doesn't seem to have screws or nails, so I can't figure out how it's helped in there. I'm attaching a pic.

Anyone know how to get that housing off and back on so I can put my switch back? Or any other creative options are welcome!

Thanks

[Kvsterling]

Happy days...this is what led us to replacing all our interior switches! That and it’s hard to use ivory plastic and make the renovation look new. The holes you can see in your pic are rivets. Drill them out and the trim is removed. Can use screws to replace.

I may have some leftover switches in storage to replace yours, PM me and I will check this weekend. Happy to give you what I have

You may have a hard time with the wire length, power for the switch bank is daisy chained, so one of your yellow wires is connected to the next switch

[345 MoHo]

Originally Posted by Kvsterling

Happy days...this is what led us to replacing all our interior switches! That and it’s hard to use ivory plastic and make the renovation look new. The holes you can see in your pic are rivets. Drill them out and the trim is removed. Can use screws to replace.

I may have some leftover switches in storage to replace yours, PM me and I will check this weekend. Happy to give you what I have

You may have a hard time with the wire length, power for the switch bank is daisy chained, so one of your yellow wires is connected to the next switch

Thanks KV - and sorry for my delayed reply. Had some leisurely travel days that concluded with our truck breaking down...

Thankfully we were 5 mins from camp and it was just a fuel pump, so easy fix, but still...

Anyhoo - this is SUPER helpful. Can't thank you enough. I will shoot you a PM now about those switches.

I'll ask this in the PM too, but for the sake of the thread:

Just to be sure I do it right, the rivets can simply be drilled out with a twist bit (spiral bit) that is small enough to fit in that little hole on the trim. So, take the bit and drill into the rivet until it breaks free, right?

[Kvsterling]

I found all the interior rivets are 1/8 diameter with varying lengths. I used a standard 1/8 bit to drill off the “mushroom cap” part of the rivet. Stop there and attempt to slide the item off the rivet shaft. It it doesn’t go, drill more.

Removing a little plastic with the bit won’t hurt a thing. Try not to bore out the hole in the aluminum skin, otherwise you may be forced to upsize the rivet with reinstallation

[Kvsterling]

Howdy

Just checking if the switches were received and if they are what you needed?

[345 MoHo]

Yes, and they were exactly right! Thank you SO much. So hard to find this stuff, so I really appreciate your sending.